Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown believes Sir Alex Ferguson's jibe that Chelsea's squad are too long in the tooth to mount a serious title challenge could come back to haunt him.
Keown, who won his last championship with the Gunners at the age of 38, believes new Blues boss Luiz Felipe Scolari will change Chelsea's previous style of football and teach his old dogs enough new tricks to continue as a major threat to Ferguson's Manchester United side.
Keown said: "Of course it gets harder when the body gets older and I don't know long this current Chelsea squad will go for, but I still feel there is enough in it to be very successful this season.
"Alex himself has said on record that he will still be around for a couple more years and I certainly think this Chelsea squad will continue to challenge him in that period."
Keown - veteran of some major battles against United, notably in 2004 when he was heavily fined and suspended following an on-field clash with striker Ruud van Nistelrooy - thinks Ferguson's remarks have been taken out of context.
The Scot, 66, has even been criticised by Help The Aged for his remarks but Keown said: "I don't believe it is him playing his famous mind games again because he knows those words will only fire-up Chelsea. I didn't see anything wrong with him making those comments.
"But he's going to face a different type of Chelsea side.
"With Scolari coming in there will be a new emphasis on playing football. They have brought in Deco and you don't bring in a player like that without trying to play the game through him.
"You'll see a change in Chelsea which wasn't possible under Avram Grant - for whatever reason.
"Players got used to a certain type of game under Jose Mourinho and now Scolari is a big manager whom the players will respect more and put his new ideas into practice."
Former England defender Keown also believes his former club will again give United and Chelsea a run for their money - despite the loss of seemingly key personnel in Mathieu Flamini and Alexander Hleb plus the uncertainty over striker Emmanuel Adebayor's future.
Keown said: "I was with Arsene Wenger last week and he was supremely confident in the players that he has. With him it is a production line of players, year after year.
"Last season I think they improved more than any other team. They were 20 points adrift at the end of the previous season but last year it was only three or four points between them and the title.
"I don't see any real problems there to be honest. It looks as though Adebayor might stay now and as an ex-Arsenal man and fan you get to find that magic, to always pull a rabbit out of the hat.
"What still amazes me about him is the faith he has in the players he produces. He never wants to sign somebody who might do well in the short term but also inhibit the progress of a top young player.
"Hleb and Flamini have taken big-money opportunities to leave which is disappointing for Arsenal, but while they have this huge debt to repay for the new stadium they are never going to compete with the very top clubs on wages. Arsene knows that.
"But going right back to Nicolas Anelka when he left, Arsene always finds a replacement - and often a better one."
